When Should You Contact Your IBD Team?

There are many situations that do not require urgent attention...if your symptoms are flaring for 1-2 days, we may not act immediately. It is not uncommon for us to wait to act until the symptoms have been occurring for 3 or more days.

These May Be Symptoms of a Flare:

Worsening abdominal pain that is out of range of your typical experience

Increasing blood in your bowel movements that is worse than your typical experience

Increasing number of bowel movements per day

Bowel movements that have increasing frequency and/or urgency.

Decreased appetite, feeling full fast

Pain and/or bowel movements that wake you up at night

Nausea and/or vomiting

Fever (greater than 101.0), especially if it is not associated with an obvious viral illness

Joint pains

Sores in your mouth

When Should You Call the Office?There are some situations that are more URGENT and you should call the office without delay:

Abdominal pain: location, duration, character, things that make the pain worse, things that make the pain better, radiation of pain.

Bowel movements: How many per day, consistency (watery, pasty, formed), blood (mixed in the stool, dripping in the toilet, turning the toilet water red, only upon wiping?). Are there bowel movements in the middle of the night?